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Prisons should mirror society: the debate on age-segregated housing for older prisoners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2015

TENZIN WANGMO ,
VIOLET HANDTKE ,
WIEBKE BRETSCHNEIDER  and
BERNICE SIMONE ELGER
TENZIN WANGMO*
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Switzerland.
VIOLET HANDTKE
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Switzerland.
WIEBKE BRETSCHNEIDER
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Switzerland.
BERNICE SIMONE ELGER
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Switzerland.
*
Address for correspondence: Tenzin Wangmo, Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Bernoullistr. 28, Basel 4056, Switzerland E-mail: tenzin.wangmo@unibas.ch
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Abstract

The debate on age-segregated housing for older prisoners has seldom captured the perspectives of older prisoners and professionals (‘stakeholders’) working in a European prison setting. To address this gap in the research, 35 older prisoners from Switzerland and 40 stakeholders from three European countries (including Switzerland) were interviewed for the study. Data analysis was conducted thematically, and the validity of coding was established independently from the primary author. Interpretation of study results was agreed upon by all authors. Participants' opinions regarding age-segregated housing for older prisoners were split. An almost equal number of prisoners and stakeholders had similar arguments in favour of and against such living arrangements. The findings encompassed three major themes: ‘prisons should mirror society’ and thus age-mixed housing was preferable as it ensured generational exchange; a ‘separate unit within the prison’ would allow continuity of personal and other relationships and at the same time respond to older prisoners' specific health and environmental needs; finally, participants felt it was important to think critically about ‘the criteria’ for placing older prisoners in an age-segregated arrangement. We conclude that the debate on consolidated versus separate housing is bifurcated. Any push towards segregation based only on high prison violence and unvalidated context-specific information may result in unreliable public policy.

Keywords

ageing prisonershousing needsage-segregated prisonsgenerational exchangepublic policy
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , April 2017 , pp. 675 - 694
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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